The fact that persons who were convicted or are investigated criminally or whose cases were remitted to court were admitted to the election campaign prior to the  parliamentary elections is embarrassing, said President Igor Dodon’s legal adviser Maxim Lebedinski, who is a member of the Party of Socialists. According to him, dissatisfaction was thus caused among the citizens.

Maxim Lebedinski noted an important role in this case is played by the moral aspect as, when a competitor wants to obtain one of the highest public posts in the country, the citizens expect the image of this to be appropriate.

The Liberal Party (PL) requests to create conditions for the diaspora to be able to vote without impediments in the parliamentary elections of February 24. In a news conference, the leader of the PL Dorin Chirtoacă called on all the pro-European forces to exert pressure on the government so that this allows the citizens who are abroad to vote with the expired passport or with the identity card. He said by at least 50 more polling places should be established abroad and the personnel at polling places abroad should be supplemented so as to avoid the appearance of lines if there are many voters.

The unionists who will run in the parliamentary elections of February 24, 2019 on the list of the Party “Democracy at Home” will compete in four single-member constituencies: Anatol Ursu (constituency No. 22 Ialoveni), Zinainda Bolboceanu (constituency No. 35 Căușeni), Mihai Goian (constituency No. 16 Ungheni) and Ion Leashchenko (constituency No. 15 Călărași, Ungheni).

Ion Leashchenko noted the unionist candidates of other parties of the right that the Party “Democracy at Home” will support in elections are: mayor of Cimișlia town Gheorghe Răileanu, who will run in constituency No.40 Cimișlia; Maria Ciobanu, who will compete in constituency No. 14 Telenești; Petru Frunză, mayor of Puhoi, who will contend in constituency No. 37 Răzeni, Ialoveni; Vladimir Putregai, mayor of Cociulia village, who will run in constituency No. 41 Leova.

“Democracy at Home” will also support the principal of the Tiraspol Lyceum “Lucian Blaga” Ion Iovchev in constituency No. 47, Eleonora Chekavski, who will in run in constituency No. 48, Lilian Carp, who will compete in constituency No. 21 Criuleni, and Vlad Biletski, who will run in constituency No. 26 Centru, Buicani.

If the government commits crass illegalities, the president of the Party “Action and Solidarity” Maia Sandu, who heads the list of candidates for MP of the bloc ACUM DA PAS, expects that protests would be mounted. At the same time, the PAS leader said there are risks that the upcoming parliamentary elections will not be recognized internationally. According to her, the current government entered the election campaign in a way that denigrated the opposition. Maia Sandu referred to the discussions around the opposition’s links with the Foundation “Open Dialog”, noting she considers the government keeps this case as an eventual variant of attack if it is confronted.

A new version of the portal www.alegeri.md was launched on January 11. In a news conference at IPN, executive director of the Association for Participatory Democracy (ADEPT) Igor Boțan said the platform was launched in connection with the replacement of the electoral system and the goal is to create an encyclopedia of electoral processes in Moldova. “The electoral competitors and political parties are also the target of this project. Besides the section “Elections”, there is also a special division about the development of political parties in Moldova starting with 1989. This covers 96 political parties, some of which disappeared in time,” stated Igor Boțan.

The broadcast license of the channel “Impact TV”, provided to the founder “Media Max” SRL, was suspended for six months. The decision was taken by the Broadcasting Coordination Council at the request of Marcel Darie, who manages “Media Max” SRL, for the reason of financial incapacity.

According to the governor of the National Bank of Moldova Octavian Armașu, the rise in the number of home loans is due, among others, to the implementation of the state program “First House” that enables the citizens of the Republic of Moldova aged between 18 and 45 to obtain loans for purchasing a home. The swift growth is also due to a smaller basis. In almost comparable countries, the size of home loans is much higher. In Lithuania, the home loans represent 37% of the portfolio, while in Georgia 56%.

In the same interview, Octavian Armașu said the process of recovering financial resources from the three banks that are being liquidated is in full swing. Since the licenses were withdrawn on October 16, 2015, until November 30, 2018, Banca de Economii, Banca Socială and Unibank collected 1.698,8 billion lei, 421.6 million lei of which was obtained in a criminal case.

The governor also referred to decisions taken by the Executive Board of the National Bank of Moldova concerning BC “Banca de Finanţe şi Comerţ” S.A. and BC “Energbank” S.A. by which the rights of some of the shareholders of the two banks were suspended for concerted activity, without the prior written permission of the central bank.

Details on IPN!